1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety bindings for monoskis which are adapted to maintain two boots on a monoski.
2. Description of Background of Relevant Materials
Binding assemblies are known for traditional skis which are constituted by two principal elements, i.e, a front binding adapted to retain the front of the boot, and a rear binding adapted to retain the rear. These two front and rear bindings serve to free the end of the boot which they retain against the energy exerted by an elastic return system when the boot exerts a force which exceeds a predetermined threshold known as the release threshold.
It is these same binding assemblies which are likewise most often applied to monoskis, after possibly having undergone minor modifications. Thus, generally, a monoski is equipped with two front bindings mounted side by side and two rear bindings mounted side by side, each front or rear binding having its own release threshold.
For a pair of conventional skis, the bindings mounted on each ski are independent, and as a result, they independently release one boot or the other. On a single ski, the front binding and the rear binding are connected only by the fact that they retain the same boot, and as a result, if the boot is freed at one of its ends by release of the binding which retains it, it is automatically freed from the other binding.
As a result, when a skier falls, he may lose one of his ski, while the other ski stays attached to his other boot. For this to occur, it is necessary that only one of the boots exerts on the bindings of one ski forces which exceed the release threshold, and that the forces exerted by the other boot remain below the release threshold of the other boot's bindings.
While such a binding arrangement is acceptable in a traditional ski, where the skier can make use of the ski which remains attached to stop himself on the slope, this type of arrangement is dangerous with a monoski, where the monoski has a weight and inertia which is much more substantial than a conventional ski. Numerous monoski accidents occur because one of the boots of the skier is freed, as a result of excessive forces being exerted, but the other boot remains attached to the monoski since it has not itself biased the front and rear bindings which retain it beyond their release threshold.
One solution for overcoming this disadvantage consists of connecting the two boots together, for example at their front ends, in a manner such that when one of the boots leaves the front binding which retains it, the other front portion of the boot is likewise moved outside of its binding assembly.
By illustration of this approach, reference is made to French Patent Application No. 86 03854 belonging to Applicant.
Such an apparatus provides good results, but it requires a displacement of the front bindings on the monoski relative to their normal position.
Another solution described in French Patent Application No. 86 09637 consists of associating the movements of the two front bindings to one another in such a manner that as one of the jaws pivots laterally under the effect of a force exerted by the corresponding boot, the other jaw is released in a manner so as to be able to freely pivot and to allow for the liberation of the other boot.
Such an apparatus likewise gives good results, but it requires a front binding which is specifically made for a monoski.